Odd couple leads UTSA's title defense

Updated 1:14 am, Friday, April 27, 2012

Shannon Jungman's individual SLC title capped a season in which the Roadrunners' senior saw significant improvement.

Shannon Jungman's individual SLC title capped a season in which the Roadrunners' senior saw significant improvement.

Photo: Jeff Huehn

Odd couple leads UTSA's title defense

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These are heady days for UTSA women's golf coach Carrie Parnaby. In addition to welcoming her first child, 11-week-old Cole, the Roadrunners recently claimed their second straight Southland Conference championship.

About the only thing she's lacking at the moment is sleep.

“Everyone's saying he's our good-luck charm,” Parnaby said of her new baby.

If wee Cole isn't up to that task, senior Shannon Jungman and sophomore Fabiola Arriaga will do just fine. They finished 1-2 at the league tournament in Blanco, helping the Roadrunners successfully defend their crown and win their fourth team title of the season.

While Arriaga, this year's SLC player of the year, has been a standout since she arrived on campus, Jungman needed more time to develop.

To paint the Pflugerville native as an underachiever during her first three seasons at UTSA would not be accurate. But despite regular tournament participation, even Jungman entered her last campaign feeling she hadn't yet lived up to her potential.

“I thought I was OK,” Jungman said. “I knew I could do better. I was trying. I just wasn't doing as good as I could.”

Indeed, Jungman admitted she wouldn't have believed it if she had been told at the start of the season that she would win the SLC individual title. But she did just that, shooting 217 over three rounds to edge Arriaga by three strokes and claim her first victory in 35 career starts.

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The championship highlights a year of meteoric improvement for Jungman, who sliced her average from 78.38 strokes as a junior to 75.44 this season.

“That's rare,” Parnaby said. “It's very hard to lower your average by one stroke, much less three, especially so late in your career. It's definitely been a pleasant surprise.”

Jungman credits her technical improvement to the coaching of Parnaby and her husband, assistant coach Ian

Parnaby. But the biggest difference, she said, has been mental.

“It was just a matter of believing I could play this good,” Jungman said. “I was just thinking, ‘Not me. I wouldn't win something like this.' Instead of thinking, ‘Why not me?' It was mainly me holding myself back.”

Arriaga, in contrast, has rarely struggled with confidence. Growing up in Torreón, Mexico, she constantly competed with her twin brother, Alfonso, for everything from grades to attention.

As such, Arriaga loathes practice — not because she doesn't like the work, but because there's nothing at stake. But with opponents to beat and championships to chase, she invariably rises to the occasion.

“I like the pressure,” said Arriaga, who has finished at least sixth in six of her last seven starts. “My game is mental. If I feel good (mentally), I will play good. If I'm missing my swing, I will find a way to make my round good.”

With Jungman developing similar mettle, a repeat championship was almost guaranteed.

“This year was really exciting because we knew we could win,” Jungman said.